Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,741 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 386 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $5,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,238,000. New Hampshire Trust raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 14,181 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Sky Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 41,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,117,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Fortive by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 37,731 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,830,000 after buying an additional 3,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 7,041 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FTV shares. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

Fortive Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:FTV opened at $79.00 on Tuesday. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. Fortive’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries.